Navarro Academy students tour Downtown Campus

(June 4, 2008)--Harriett Romo, director of UTSA's Bank of America Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) and associate professor of sociology, recently welcomed 57 three- and four-year-olds to the UTSA Downtown Campus for a first look at higher education.

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"The children were here to learn what kinds of opportunities there are in several different fields so that they will know what they might study when they go to college -- not if they go to college," said Romo.

Susan Lanford, an interior design lecturer in the College of Architecture, led the students through a design studio and gallery, letting them touch the fabrics UTSA architecture students use in their projects. Biology lab supervisor Rebecca Cantu showed the preschoolers models of the human body. Then, librarian Julie Nichols read the children a story in the Downtown Campus library.

"It was amazing to see these very young children interacting with college professors and taking in the sights of the campus," said Romo. "One student looked up at the buildings and said, 'it's so beautiful!' It is so important to give these children this experience and so gratifying for their teachers and parents -- and also the faculty and staff -- to be part of a very special day."

A Bank of America grant to CAPRI enabled sociology graduate student Denise De La Rosa to work at the Navarro Child Development Center during the spring 2008 semester. Her time with the young students inspired her to become a school counselor. Veronica Craft, a UTSA graduate and teacher at the Navarro Academy, arranged the visit.